Tag Archives: theater

Sunsets and Songs (or Why Season Tickets To The Pantages Was The Best Decision Ever)

Posted on November 26, 2014 | 4 comments

I know I said yesterday that I rarely go out, but of course last weekend was full of fun adventures. I had Rayshell’s party on Saturday and another show at the Pantages on Sunday!

I know it seems like all these shows are back to back. They are bunched up right now (I have my next show in a month), but then there is a few months between the next show and the show after it.

One of the members of the group who goes to these shows couldn’t attend this time (she exchanged her tickets for another date so she would see the show on her own). She is the one who goes with me on the light rail and subway, and I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to go by myself. I’m fine riding them when it’s light out, but it’s a little scary at night.

So I decided to drive and hope that I could find parking near the theater and not too expensive. On my drive, I saw the most amazing sunset. I couldn’t get a great photo since it was behind me, but I did the best I could by shooting a picture in my side mirror.

The show this time was Kinky Boots. It was one of the shows that I was thinking about seeing when I went to NYC this year, but since it was in my series here I decided that I didn’t need to see it in New York and in LA in the same year.

I knew a little bit about the show before seeing it. I knew the basics of the plot and some of the songs since I had seen their performance on the Tonys. But I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

I guessed it would be pretty silly. And there were some really great and silly moments. But some of the serious moments are the ones that stuck with me the most. In a time where there is so much turmoil in the country and the world, the message about just accepting others for who they are means so much.

After the show, I headed back to my car for the drive back and had some time to reflect on all the shows that I’ve gotten to see so far.

When I purchased my season tickets for the Pantages, it was during a time that I was making steady (and decent) money. Right after I purchased them, I was struggling with paying my bills. I knew I couldn’t go back on purchasing the tickets, but I seriously questioned if I had made the right decision to spend my money on them.

This was seriously such a great decision for me to make. I’ve always loved musicals and have wanted to see them at the Pantages. But single tickets are not cheap and I had trouble finding people who wanted to go with me. Now, not only are the tickets about half of what I would have paid to buy them as single tickets, I have new friends who enjoy musicals as much as I do!

I’m not quite half way through the season, but I’m already anticipating the announcement of the next season. If it’s anything like this year, I’m going to find a way to get the money together to buy the season tickets again! Seeing so many musicals in one year (both with my season tickets and with my trip to NYC) has revitalized my love for musicals and made me realize what I’ve been missing in my life for far too long.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged Los Angeles, musical, Pantages Theater, play, theater

Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)

Posted on October 16, 2014 | 2 comments

After my shopping adventure in Orange County, I headed back to LA to get changed for my evening activity.

A little backstory.

In the beginning of the year, I was asked by a friend of a friend if I would like to join their group for the next season at the Pantages Theater. They had 3 people for the past season (which was still going on at the time), but one member of their group was moving away. And since they found out that I love musicals, they wanted to see if I’d be interested in buying season tickets.

I had only been to the Pantages once before. That was my first week in LA and I saw The Lion King there. I kept wanting to go back, but I either didn’t have the time, the money, or someone to go with.

At that time, I had much steadier money coming in so I didn’t really hesitate to say yes! Also, the season tickets made it come out to about $40 a show when individual show tickets were 2 or 3 times that!

Fast forward to this past weekend and it was finally time for our first show!

I took the light rail and the subway to Hollywood and Vine and as soon as I got up the final escalator I saw the theater.

I crossed the street and waited for the rest of the group to get there. It was a nice evening and watching the sun go down behind the theater was very pretty.

The rest of the group got there shortly after me and we headed inside to our seats.

I was not in charge of ordering the tickets, so I had no idea what our seats would be like. But once we sat down we realized that for the price we paid, we got some amazing seats!

We were off to the side, but the view wasn’t that obstructed. And we were pretty close!

The first show of the season was Jersey Boys. I had never seen the show before (of the 7 shows in our season, I’ve only seen 1 before), but I did see the movie.

And while the show was amazing, I will say that the movie almost ruined it for me. The movie was a very faithful adaptation of the musical. So many of the lines and jokes were the exact same. So I knew exactly what was coming up.

Even with knowing the movie, I still had a great time!

I’m so excited that I have 6 more shows coming up at the Pantages! I’m looking forward to them all and my next one is only a few weeks away! And I’m so glad that I’m finally enjoying one of the great theaters in LA again after not going for over 13 years.

2 Comments

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged Los Angeles, musical, Pantages Theater, subway, theater

Happy Hour Party (or Getting To See Co-Workers Again)

Posted on June 19, 2014 | Comments Off

This week was the end of the year party for the theater I work at. We had a party last year at the end of the season, but that was when I was still working in telesales and I was working 6 days a week.

Now that I’m in the box office, I’m lucky if I’m there 1 day a week. And even though I’ve been back for a while, some people didn’t know that I was back until a staff meeting that we had last month. Everyone works in an office building across the street from the theater except for the box office staff. We, obviously, work in the box office that is attached to the theater. So unless someone is coming over to the box office for some reason, they never see us.

I’m still getting used to being back. It’s weird to work in a job that is so similar yet so different from what I’m used to doing. While I do know some things, there are so many things that in telesales we couldn’t do. So I’m still learning a lot every day.

Also, I’m used to this time being the busiest (and most profitable for me) time of the year. But in the box office, we maybe get 1 phone call over a 3 hour shift. We don’t have tickets on sale yet to the public, so we don’t have a ton of work we have to do.

Anyway, back to the party.

Before the party, there was a staff meeting and then we all headed over to Bodega (yes, where my 30th birthday party was last year). Bodega is only about 3 blocks from the theater, so it’s super convenient. I used to go to Bodega all the time. But that was also when I worked in telesales until 5:30 on Wednesdays and wanted to wait out rush hour traffic. Since being laid off from telesales, I haven’t been back.

It was free food and drinks for everyone, which made it pretty fun. I only had 1 cocktail since it was only 2pm and I knew I had work to do at my house later.

We played some random games like get-to-know-you BINGO where it turns out I’m the only person who works at the theater who has been to Africa. But honestly, it was just a nice time to get to chat with people who I don’t really get to see at work. Again, some people forgot that I had been brought back to work in the box office. I’m the only person from the telesales team who is back.

After 3 hours of hanging out with everyone, I headed back home. It’s nice to be social with co-workers and I feel like the fact that I was social before is one of the reasons that I was asked to come back to work. Building relationships with people always helps and I’m glad that when I was let go I had left a positive enough impression for them to want me back.

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Posted in Celebrations, Food, Fun Stuff, Work

Tagged happy hour, job, party, theater, work

Double Time (or 2 Days Of Split Shifts)

Posted on April 28, 2014 | Comments Off

First of all, a quick update on my audition from last week. I heard back from my agent because the show wanted to check my availability for the filming date! This could be a very good sign. Normally they only check the availability of 2 or maybe 3 choices. But you never know when things aren’t done as normally, so I might not be in the top 3 yet. But it’s still a positive sign and again, I promise to update you all on any news.

Thursday and Friday last week were both double job days. I worked from 10-2 for my recruiting job and then headed over to the box office job and worked there from 4-8. I need more days like this if I don’t want to have to get day job #3. Although I did talk to my bosses at the recruiting job about potentially getting a higher hourly rate once I’ve been there for 90 days which could make it possible to only need 2 jobs.

But even though I need more days like those days, I have to admit that it was pretty tough. I’m used to working 8 hour days when I worked in the telesales office, but somehow doing 2 jobs in that same amount of time is more exhausting. It could have something to do with the craziness of working in the box office. It’s pretty calm for the first hour or so, but once people start showing up at the will call window (which is what I do there), it’s non-stop work. And people are constantly asking me for better seats or some other sort of favor that I really can’t do. And this particular show that’s going on right now doesn’t allow for late seating (at all!), so we also have to deal with angry people who show up 10 or 15 minutes late and aren’t allowed in the theater (everyone is warned about this when they buy their tickets).

I’m sure in a week or two the box office job won’t feel as crazy or stressful and I’ll get used to it. But once I’m used to it, I might not be working much more there for a while.

Right now, I’m working evenings and weekends during the shows since I work my recruiting job in the mornings and early afternoons. The season is over in about 2 weeks at the theater and there won’t be any more shows until the fall. They will still need people at the box office, but it will only be until 6pm.

I have some ideas on how I can try to work both jobs even without evenings or weekends, but it won’t be easy. I’ll probably have to start earlier than I’d like to at the recruiting job and then rush over to the box office to work 3 hours instead of 4.

I also heard back from my old boss and he’s running a short fundraising campaign this summer and wants to talk to me about joining that. I’m hopefully going to meet up with him next week so I’ll have a better idea of what those hours would be like.

Either way, these double days need to become a more regular occurrence. I just don’t know how to make that happen quite yet.

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Posted in Work

Tagged box office, busy, job, theater

Full Day At The New Job (or Seeing My Old Workplace Abandoned)

Posted on April 15, 2014 | 1 comment

On Saturday, I worked a full show shift in the box office. The day before, I only worked a few hours. Saturday was an 8 hour shift (technically 7.5 since I had to take a 30 minute lunch).

This was my first full work day away from home since I was laid off. While it was weird trying to get everything together before I left for the day, since I was going to a place I’ve worked before it wasn’t too bad. I even remembered to pack a lunch (something that I had trouble with when I worked in telesales).

I also got a better idea of what the workday would be like for me in the box office. I’m happy to see that there is downtime because when you work the will call box before a show, it’s a little crazy. Especially when you can’t find the tickets for people.

But again, the people in the box office are being super patient with me and are more than willing to help me with all the weird stuff I’m trying to get used to. I really feel like people there are happy to see that I’m back, and that is really helping with coming back to a place where I was laid off.

During one of those downtime moments, the box office manager and I were chatting about something random and she mentioned how they use magnetic to stick notices to the box office door. I said that I was pretty sure that I left some magnets at my desk in the trailer that I worked telesales in. So the box office manager handed me her keys and sent me over there to see if I could find any.

It was very very weird to go back into the trailer. I had been there one time after being laid off when my boss was still there (I think it was only a week after being laid off). The last time, everything was still there but there were boxes everywhere. This time, it looked like a ghost town inside.

I actually texted that picture to my ex-boss because it seemed so sad inside. They are tearing down the trailer soon so this was probably the last time I was going to go inside it.

But I did find my magnets still stuck to my whiteboard above where my desk used to be!

I showed everyone in the box office that picture and they all agreed that it looked very sad inside the trailer. But it was a nice closure on the telesales job. I’m actually enjoying working in the box office and being able to interact more with customers and my co-workers. I’m still hoping to get more hours there so I won’t have to worry about finding yet another day job (and when would I have time to fit that in?!?), but that’s being worked on.

Overall, I’d say my first full day shift in the box office was a success! And yes, I dressed properly for the job this time.

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Posted in Work

Tagged box office, busy, job, telesales, theater, work

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (or More Day Job Issues)

Posted on December 23, 2013 | 1 comment

Ever since it got really bad with the co-worker who doesn’t like me at my day job, I’ve been looking for a new job. I’ve been applying for things pretty much on a daily basis, I’ve had a few interviews, and even a job offer (but that job had lied about how much they pay so I didn’t take it).

There’s one job that I’ve been in the running for a while. I’ve done some phone interviews, a writing test, and finally an in-person interview this past week. I should find out if I get the job this week.

But something has happened at my current day job that is making me think twice about leaving.

Last week on Thursday, the co-worker who doesn’t like me said something nasty to me. She didn’t realize it, but our boss was standing right behind her. He asked her what she said, and she chose not to repeat it. He asked her to leave work that day and she hasn’t been back.

This was the first time in a long time that my boss has heard the things this co-worker says to me (and the first time he heard it after he warned her that that was unacceptable). Even though he has believed me when I said that this was going on, it’s one thing to hear about it and another to actually witness it.

After the co-worker had left for the day, there was a different energy in the room. I actually was starting to enjoy my job again. It’s hard to judge how I felt that day because in the middle of the shift was when I found out about Dante passing away and I spent the last 4 hours of my shift trying to work and not cry (my boss said I could leave for the day but I needed to make money).

If this co-worker isn’t at work anymore, I might actually start to enjoy my job again. I do like working for a theater (they understand that I have auditions and that I need to leave sometimes randomly for them). I also like the other people who I work with.

I’m going to wait and see if I get the other job offer. But at least I know for now that if I do decide to stay at my current job, things might be getting better for me.

1 Comment

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

Tagged interview, job, theater

“Lincoln” and “Les Miserables” (or Time For Some Movie Reviews)

Posted on December 27, 2012 | 1 comment

In the past two days, I’ve seen two movies. They were both amazing, and I wanted to share my movie going experiences with you all.

Please note: this blog post contains spoilers for “Les Miserables” if you’ve never seen the musical or aren’t familiar with the story. There are really any spoilers for “Lincoln” (if you don’t know that slavery was abolished or that Lincoln was assassinated you should be reading a history book and not my blog). If you aren’t familiar at all with “Les Miserables” and don’t want to know about the plot, stop reading right now! This is your final spoiler warning!

On Christmas, I went with my friend Robert to a screening of “Lincoln” at the DGA (or Director’s Guild of America for those of you not in the entertainment industry). It would normally take me between 30 minutes and an hour to get to the DGA from my house, but I didn’t account for the lack of traffic on Christmas, so I was pretty much the first one there. The lobby was empty!

As you can see, nobody was lined up for the screening. Robert and I got some pretty nice seats in the center of the little theater. Everyone in the theater was super respectful and watched all the credits to see everyone who participated in it (my 4th cousin wrote the screenplay).

It was so nice to be in a theater where nobody was talking, texting, eating loudly, or doing any other rude theater behaviors.

I had a different experience when I went to see “Les Miserables”. I went to the Landmark Theater near my house because they have reserved seating. I like to sit in the row behind the handicap seating because there is a rail that you can rest your feet on.

I went alone, and was seating between two groups. And they were weird theater goers. Not rude necessarily, but weird.

The guy on my left came prepared to cry, and boy did he cry! The crying started when the Universal Pictures logo came up and never ended! He even brought a box of tissues in the theater with him! The only annoying thing was that he kept having to blow his nose, but that’s not bad.

The woman on my right must have never seen “Les Miserables” or knew anything about it. Every death shocked her. When Fantine died, she whispered (loudly) to her friend “Anne Hathaway can’t die!”. When Gavroche was shot, she said something about not believing that they decided to kill an innocent kid in the movie.

Between the crying man on my left, the shocked woman on my right, and hearing people eating popcorn and snacks throughout the movie, I almost missed the calmness at the DGA.

But I have to say that both movies should be seen by everyone! “Lincoln” isn’t the sort of movie I’d normally go to, but it’s amazing. All the actors are wonderful and even though it’s a historical story we all know, you get to experience it in a new way. And “Les Miserables” was just wonderful. I thought that I’d cry more, but there were only two moments where I cried. One was Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed A Dream”. That was a showstopper in the theater. There were people who did a standing ovation after that number. I also cried at the end because it was just so beautiful.

Now it’s back to my 6 days a week work schedule. I do have New Year’s Day off, but I’m working New Year’s Eve. But I’m glad I got to have a couple of days off to enjoy life a bit more than I normally get to!

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged movies, theater

Tag Archives: theater

Sunsets and Songs (or Why Season Tickets To The Pantages Was The Best Decision Ever)

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Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)

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Happy Hour Party (or Getting To See Co-Workers Again)

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Double Time (or 2 Days Of Split Shifts)

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Full Day At The New Job (or Seeing My Old Workplace Abandoned)

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Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (or More Day Job Issues)

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“Lincoln” and “Les Miserables” (or Time For Some Movie Reviews)

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